Aslam-o-Alaikum I am not good at English. This is my first post and Inshallah I will keep my work continue. If I have committed any mistake in this post please make it correct. In this post I will explain you
Direct and indirect
Q: what are direct and indirect speeches/narrations?
Ans: there are two ways of conveying someone's message to another person.

i. Direct Speech/Narration
ii. Indirect Speech/Narration

i. Direct speech: In direct speech, we convey the message of the speaker in his own actual words without any change to another person.

ii. Indirect speech: In indirect speech, we convey the message of the speaker in our own words to another person.

e.g. Direct Speech = He says,” I am sick."
Indirect Speech = He says that he is sick.

The basic rules of changing direct speech into indirect speech
1. We remove comma and inverted commas.
2. We put "that" between the reporting and reported speeches.
3. We change the 1st letter of reported speech into small letter except "I"
4. We change the verb and helping verbs of the reported speech according to the pronouns.

Note: (i) there is no difference in the meanings of "told" and "said" but there is difference in the usage; "said" is used with or without object and "told" needs an object.
(ii) "Said" needs "to" with an object and "told" doesn't need "to"

direct = He said to me," He is playing well."
Indirect = He said to me that he was playing well.
OR: He told me that he was playing well.

Persons.

Pronouns have been divided into three persons.
(i) First person: the one who is speaking.
I and we

(ii) Second person: the one who is listening.
You/thou ( thou is used for God in the Holly Quran/Bible or in the poems for youth.

"S" of the son formula stands for "subject", "O" stands for "object" and "N" stands for "not" of the reporting speech.

One of the "123" formula stands for "1st person" two stands for "second person" and Three
Stands for "third person" of the reported speech.

The "son" formula indicates towards the components of the reporting speech and the "123" formula indicates towards the components of the reported speech. They mean that the first person of the reported speech changes according to the subject of the reporting speech, the second person of the reported speech changes according to the object of the reporting speech and the third person of the reported speech doesn't change.

Direct = She says, " I am going to school."
reporting speech reported speech
Indirect = She says that she is going to school.

Direct = he says to him, “Your brother is naughty."
Indirect he says to him that his brother is naughty.

Direct = I say, " they were playing well."
indirect = I say that they were playing well.

Q: if there is 2nd person in reported speech and there is no object in reporting speech, what will we do?
Ans: when there is 2nd person in reported speech and there is no object in reporting speech, the 2nd person of reported speech will change according to the situation into 1st person, 2nd person and 3rd person.

Note: if there is first person plural in reported speech and the subject of reporting speech is 3rd person singular, the 1st person plural of reported speech will change into third person plural.

He says, " we are working hard."
He says that they are working hard.

The rules of changing the Tenses.

if we change direct speech into indirect speech, the tenses will change according to the following rules.

1. if the reporting speech is in the present or the future tense, the reported speech does not change.
2. if the reporting speech is in the past tense, the tense of reported speech will change in the following ways.
3. the present indefinite tense changes into the past indefinite tense.
4. the present continuous tense changes into the past continuous tense.
5. the present perfect tense changes into the past perfect tense.
6. the present perfect continuous tense changes into the past perfect continuous tense.
7. the past indefinite tense changes into the past perfect tense.
8. the past continuous tense changes into the past perfect continuous tense.
9. the past perfect and the past perfect continuous tense doesn't change.
10. in all the future tenses "shall" changes into "should" and "will" changes into "would"

You said," I play very well."
You said that you played very well.

she said," I will be sleeping."
she said that she would be sleeping.

Note: the universal truth doesn't change; even if the reporting speech is in the past.

He said," The earth moves."
He said that the earth moves.

Qari said," Allah is kind and merciful."
Qari said that Allah is kind and merciful.

Note: when there are two sentences combined with the help of a conjunction and both sentences have got different tenses. if we change such kind of sentences from direct into indirect, we change the tenses of both sentences according to the rule.

He said," They will have finished their work before we reach there."
He said that they would have finished their work before they reached there.

The rules of changing “Here and Now words”
If we change direct speech into indirect speech, the following words are changed into the following ways.

“This” changes into “that”
“These” changes into “those”
“Now” changes into “then/right away”
“tomorrow” ……….the next day / the following day / the coming day
The day after tomorrow……………in two days time
Yesterday……….the previous day/the last day/the day before
The day before yesterday……..two days before
Today……………….. That day
Tonight ……………… that night
Last night…………. The previous night/the last night/the night before
Here …………………there
Hither …………….thither
(Come ……….. go)
---------- ( these two rarely change)
(Go………….come)

Ago …………… before
Sir and Madam…….....respectfully (in reporting speech)
Good morning/ after noon/evening………..greeted
Good night/good bye/fare well……………don’t change
Hello, hallo, hullo, yes, no, alright, hi are removed.
Next (Sunday, month, week etc.)………the following/the next (Sunday, month, week etc.)
Last (night, week, Sunday, month, year etc) …............the previous/ the last ( night, week, Sunday, month, year etc)/ the (night, week, Sunday, month, year etc) before
Hence ………..thence
Thus………….so
Has to / have to…………….had to
Is to/ are to/ am to……………was to / were to
Can ……………..could
May ………….might
Must …………..must = had to
Would, could, should, ought to ………….don’t change.

They say,” We don’t like this place.”
They say that they don’t like that place.

He said,” I may not come tomorrow.”
He said that he might not come the next day.

She said to her father,” Good night father.”
She said good night to her father.

I said to him,” Good morning.”
I greeted (to) him.

Note: in spoken English, when the place or the thing is in your reach, “this” and “here” don’t change, they remain unchanged.

He said,” I don’t like this chair.”
He said that he didn’t like this chair.

The rules of changing interrogative sentences
If we change interrogative sentences from direct into indirect, the following changes will take place.
1. The reporting verb changes into “asked” or “enquired of”
2. if the interrogative sentence is from helping verb or model auxiliary verb, we use “if” or “whether” instead of “that”
3. if the interrogative sentence is from W.H word, the W.H word remained in their places; there, we don’t use “if” and “whether” and “that” is not used.
4. Interrogative sentence is made affirmative sentence.
5. In the place of question mark, we use full stop.
6. “do” “does” and “did” are removed.
7. helping verbs or model auxiliary verbs come after its subject.

Note: “asked” is used with or without object and “enquired of” needs an object.

He said to her,” Do you know him.”
He asked her if she knew him.

I said to him,” Are you coming with us.”
I asked him if he was coming with us.

He said to him,” Where were you going yesterday.”
He asked him where he had been going the previous day.

The rules of changing Imperative sentences.
If there is request, suggestion, order or an advice in a sentence that is called imperative sentence.
If we change imperative sentences from direct into indirect, we act upon the following changes.

1. The reported verb will change into full infinitive.
2. if there is an order in a sentence, the reporting verb changes into “ordered”
3. if there is an order and there is less stress on the order, the reporting verb changes into “asked” or “told”
4. if there is request in reported speech, the reporting verb will change into “requested/entreated”
5. if there is an advice in the reported speech, the reporting verb will change into “advised”
6. if there is more stress on the advice, the reporting verb will change into “urged”
7. if there is “never” in reported speech, the reporting verb will change into “told” , “advised” or “forbade” and there is no need of not after “forbade”.
8. if there is direction in reported speech, the reporting verb will change into “directed”
9. if there is a suggestion in reported speech, the reporting verb will change into “suggested to”
10. if there is a warning in reported speech, the reported speech changes into “warn”

Note: if a person is addressed directly, the reporting verb changes into “called”

He said,” Nadir wait for me.”
He called Nadir to wait for him.

He said to me,” type these letters.”
He ordered me to type those letters.

She said to them,” please, help me.”
She requested them to help her.

I said to her,” Be careful.”
I advised her to be careful.

He said to him,” Don’t make mistakes again.”
He warned him not to make mistakes again.

The rules of changing Optative sentences
Def: if there is a pray or a wish in a sentence, is called Optative sentence.
If we change Optative sentences from direct into indirect, we act upon the following changes.

1. “May” will change into “might” and it will come after the reported subject.
2. the verb of reported speech will remain unchanged.
3. the exclamation mark will change into full stop.
4. “that” comes between the two speeches.
5. the reporting verb sometimes changes into “prayed” and sometimes into “prayed for”.
Note: (i) if the object of reporting speech is related with the subject of reported speech, the reporting verb will change into “prayed for”
(ii) if the object of reporting speech is not related with the subject of reported speech, the reporting verb will change into “prayed” and the object of reporting speech is omitted.

He said to me,” May you recover soon.”
He prayed for me that I might recover soon.

He said to me,” May he recover soon.”
He prayed that he might recover soon.

If there is a wish or desire in a sentence, the following changes will take place.
1. the reporting verb changes into “wish”
2. the “tenses” and “here and now words” and “pronouns” will change according to the previous rules.
3. “would that” and “O that” are removed.
4. “that” comes between the two speeches.
5. the exclamation mark changes into full stop.

He said,” would that I were here.”
He wished that he had been there.

They said,” O that we had won the match.”
They wished that they had won the match.

The rules of changing exclamatory sentences
If we change exclamatory sentences from direct into indirect, we act upon the following rules.

1. Exclamatory sentence changes into assertive sentence.
2. interjections are removed.
3. exclamation mark changes into full stop.
4. we put that between the two speeches.
5. W.H words like , “what” and “how” are removed and before the adjective of reported speech we put “very”
6. changes of “tenses” , “pronouns” and “here and now words” will be according to the previous rules.
7. if there is a sorrow in reported speech, the reporting verb will change into “exclaimed with sorrow/grief/exclaimed sorrowfully or cried out”
Note: if the sorrow is being expressed strongly, the reporting verb will change into “ exclaimed with great sorrow/grief”
8. if there is happiness in reported speech, the reporting verb changes into “exclaimed with joy/delight/exclaimed joyfully”
Note: if the happiness is being expressed strongly, the reporting verb will change into “exclaimed with great joy/delight”
9. if there is a surprise in reported speech, the reporting verb will change into “exclaimed with surprise/wonder/astonishment”
Note: the reporting verb can be changed into “ said in great surprise/wonder/astonishment”
Note: (i) if the surprise is being expressed strongly, the reporting verb will change into “exclaimed with great / said in great surprise /wonder/astonishment”
(ii) if there is an appreciation and it is being expressed strongly, the reporting verb will change into “applauded”

she said,” Alas! My mother has become paralyzed.”
She exclaimed with great grief that her mother had become paralyzed.

He said to his teacher,” How lucky you are to win this match!”
He said to his teacher in great wonder that he was very lucky to win that match.

I said to them,” Bravo! You played very well.”
I applauded them that they had played very well.

Let
Q: How do we change “let” from direct into indirect?
Ans: “let” is changed from direct into indirect in three different ways.
1. if there is proposal in reported speech.
a) the reporting verb changes into proposed / suggested.
b) “let” is removed.
c) We put “should” before the reported verb.
d) We put “that” between the two speeches.
Note: (i) if there is an object in reporting speech, the reporting verb changes into “proposed to/ suggested to”
He said,” Let us play chess.”
He proposed that they should play chess.

He said to them,” Let us play football.”
He proposed to them that they should play football.

(ii) according to the rule, 1st person of reported speech changes according to the subject of reporting speech but here in the usage of “let” with suggestion; if the object of reporting speech is 1st person, the 1st person of reported speech changes against the rule according to the object of reporting speech.

He said to me,” Let us go to cinema.”
He proposed that we should go to cinema.

(iii) here object is commonly removed.

Note: if the object of the reporting speech is the 2nd person, we will not apply “SON” formula.

Note: normally “you” cannot be the object of the reporting speech because imperative sentences are said to the 2nd person but according to the situation “you” can be the object of the reporting speech.

Situation: “A” says to “B” “Let us go to bazaar.” Saying this sentence “A” goes out from the room but “B” doesn’t understand this and asks “C” what he said? Then “C” says to “B”
He said to you,” Let us go to bazaar.”

He said to you,” Let us go to bazaar.”
He suggested to you that you should go to bazaar with him.

2. if there is permission in reported speech, act upon the following.
a) the reporting verb will change into “asked”
b) before “let” “to” is used.
c) “that” is not used.

I said to him,” Let me go.”
I asked him to let me go.

She said to me,” Let me do this work first.”
She asked me to let her do that work first.

3. If there is a request in reported speech.
a) the reporting verb changes into “requested”
b) before “let” “to” is used.
c) “please” is removed.
d) “that” is not used.

He said to me,” please, let me sit here.”
He requested me to let him sit there.

They said to him,” please, let us stay here.”
They requested him to let them stay there.

Note: if there is a negative sentence in reported speech, before “let” we put “not to”

He said to me,” please, don’t let him go.”
He requested me not to let him go.

Conditional sentences
If we change conditional sentences from direct into indirect, we act upon the following rules.

Note: if the reporting speech is in the present or in the future tense, the tenses of “if” and “result” clauses won’t change.

If the reporting speech is in the past tense, the following changes will take place in Type I/ first conditional / the will condition.

1. the present indefinite tense of “if” clause changes into the past indefinite tense.
2. the “will” of the result clause changes into “would”
3. “that” comes between the two speeches.
4. “if” of the conditional sentence remains in it own place.
Note: the following changes will take place in type II / second conditional / the would condition.
1. the past indefinite tense of “if” clause can remain unchanged and it can also be changed into the past perfect tense.
2. “would + IV” of the “result clause” can remain unchanged and it can also be changed into “would have + IIIV”
3. “that” comes between the two speeches.
4. “if” of the conditional sentence remains in its own place.
Note: (i) no change will take place in the “if clause” and “result clause” of type III / third conditional / would have condition.
(ii) “tenses” , “here and now words” , “pronouns” and other changes will take place according to the previous rules.

He says,” If he works hard, he will pass the exam.”
He says that if he works hard, he will pass the exam.

He said,” If he works hard, he will pass the exam.”
He said that if he worked hard, he would pass the exam.

He said,” If he worked hard, he would pass the exam.”
a) He said that if he worked hard, he would pass the exam.
b) He said that if he had worked hard, he would have passed the exam.

He said,” If he had worked hard, he would have passed the exam.”
He said that if he had worked hard, he would have passed the exam.

If there is command / order in the result clause of conditional sentence, the following changes will take place, while changing it from direct into indirect.

1. the reporting verb changes into “told/ asked”
2. the reported verb changes into “full infinitive”
3. the result clause comes before and “if clause” goes after the result clause.
4. the tenses, “ here and now words” and “pronouns” will change according to the previous rules.
5. “if” comes in middle and works as a conjunction.

He said to me,” If you go out, bring me a glass of water.”
He asked/told me to bring him a glass of water if I went out.

If there is an advice in the main clause of conditional sentences, we act upon the following rules while changing it from direct into indirect
1. the reporting verb changes into “advised”
2. the reported verb changes into “full infinitive”
3. other changes will take place according to the previous rules.

They said to her,” If you have got tired, why don’t you go to bed early.”
They advised her to go to bed early if she had got tired.

If there is request in the reported speech, we act upon the following changes.
1. the reporting verb changes into “requested”
2. the reported verb changes into “full infinitive”
3. result clause comes before and “if” clause goes after the result clause.
4. “tenses” , “pronouns” and “here and now words” will change according to the previous rules.
5. “please” is omitted.
6. “would” is also omitted.

He said to me,” If you have money, please, lend me some money.”
He requested me to lend him some money if I had money.

Note: Now a days the 2nd way of changing requests from direct into indirect speech is common, easy, to the point and used a lot.

If there is a message to be conveyed to someone by someone else in conditional sentences, we act upon the following rules.

1. “tenses” , “pronouns” and “here and now words” will change according to the precious rules.
2. the verb of the main clause changes into “was to / were to / is to / are to / am to /” according to the tense.

He says to me,” If you miss this chance, prepare yourself for the next.”
He says to me that if I miss that chance, I am to prepare myself for the next.

He said to me,” If you miss this chance, prepare yourself for the next.”
He said to me that if I missed that chance, I was to prepare myself for the next.

She said to us,” If you miss the train, come by bus.”
She said to us that if we missed the train, we were to come by bus.

If someone is asking question for information with surprise / wonder, we act upon the following rules while changing from direct into indirect.
1. the reporting verb changes into surprise / wonder.
2. interrogative sentences changes into affirmative.
3. other changes will take place according to the previous rules.

He said in surprise,” what will we do if they leave us?”
He surprised / wondered what they would do if they left them.

Note: if someone is asking a question for information without surprise or wonder, we act upon the following changes while changing from direct into indirect.
1. the reporting verb changes into “asked”
2. “will” changes into “would” and “shall” into “should”
3. interrogative sentences will change into affirmative sentences.

He said,” where will we go if we don’t see him?”
He asked where they would go if they didn’t see him.

The Following 9 Users Say Thank You to reman_bari1455 For This Useful Post:

Dear the above narrations you have added here are mostly copied from the Challenger Academy Quetta Junior One Book, and there lies sum very common mistakes in here and now words: Anyhow, good work done.

The Following User Says Thank You to Abdul Salam Khan For This Useful Post:

thanks a ton Rahman Bari for such a useful post. plz recommend me some good book on the subject of direct/indirect narration.i know the basics since i was an eighth grader ALHAMDULLILLAH but now I want to be fully proficient in it in sha ALLAH. Looking forward to your help in the shape of a good recommendation

aslam o alykum dear and respected members of forum
its my first post . i feel lucky , be the part of this forum.
i am requesting respected senior members to help me in interview . i have qualified AJKPSC for the post of ASP & AC.

I gave detailed touch in following subjects
indo pak history
islamic history
current affair
pakistan affair
IR
GK
'
is thre any need to read more subjectS ??

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